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So after a flicker of hope, the TRPs nosedive again!
While a part of me exults because the makers deserve this for the nonsensical tracks that they have been churning out, another part feels sad for the actors. They've been putting in their 200% every time but the script has simply not backed them!
I think it is now high time the channel and the makers decided to take a good hard look at what has gone wrong and opt for course correction on a war footing. I don't know if there is still the possibility of things looking up but, like they say, it's not over till it's over!
The whole of last week was about Sartaj, BRM and Raageshwari. Seriously, who cares about any of these characters? The first and the last have just dropped down onto the show from nowhere and destroyed the very essence of the show.
This show was about the love story between a King and a commoner. It was about the threat being faced by the incumbent King from his relatives who want the throne!
Suddenly, we are told the King is not a King but the son of a dacoit! In one stroke, the essence of the show stands destroyed. It ceases to be a love story of the King and the commoner. And, even worse, the King suddenly is the usurper while his greedy relatives have a legitimate right to the throne.
Monarchy is not about merit but about lineage. So, RNJ has no right to the throne is the presence of legitimate contenders who qualify by birth!
With the very premise destroyed, the audience is suddenly feeling betrayed. This is not the story that was sold to them. So, when the product is not what they bought into, they have every right to reject it!
I am a TRP viewer and I have not watched the show on TV for the last two weeks because the excessive negativity puts me off! This show is not your typical TRP show. It has a special audience who subscribed to it simply because it offered something different from the usual saas-bahu drama. If this show is going to be turned into the typical saas-bahu drama with a sauten thrown in, where is the incentive for the loyal audience to continue watching? A part of the loyal audience left with the entry of fake Sula and a good many of the remaining left with the entry of Avdesh. It is not that the audience has a problem with antagonists. All of us understand that antagonists and twists are a necessary evil and a part of desitv soaps. However, when the foundation is yet to be strengthened, how do you go on building blocks on top? When the love story had not even taken proper shape, antagonists were brought in to destroy it. If I am not even allowed to appreciate something, why would I mourn its demise?
Secondly, Avdesh was a completely irrelevant character suddenly dropped down onto the show from nowhere to create a twist that made no sense. And the actor did not do the show a favor with his over the top histrionics!
Now, Raageshwari has taken over the mantle and the horror show continues. Tell me, who wants to see a corpse drama for five days at a stretch, and just before going to bed? A show that was once classy has been reduced to a B-grade drama.
Also it has become very repetitive. This Raageshwari track is almost the same as the fake Sula track. Why would an audience want to see the same thing again and again and at such short intervals?
TRP audiences like conflict between the hero and the heroine. They like strong heroines and they approve of them going against the hero when they are supporting the right or at least believe that they are! In this track, what is Gayathri supporting? She is supporting the continuation of a lie. Whom does that lie benefit, especially when it is revealed the lie is already known to the very antagonists whom it will favour? And by not revealing the truth, what is she achieving? She is compromising on her marriage and indirectly helping the antagonist.
So, even if the leads are in conflict, they are both losing and the antagonist is winning. Why would the TRP audience like this kind of a fight? Where they know that, even if the truth is revealed, it will still mean the King losing the battle against his relatives or maybe he won't even fight? So, it all seems pointless completely and a wasteful exercise!
If the FL went against her husband and fought for justice, the TRPs might still come. Here she is going against her husband and fighting to help injustice win. TRP audiences love strong heroines but not those whose fight is to destroy their own lives!
Course correction has to happen on priority. I think the following might help towards this end.
1. Flush Sartaj out and there are many ways to do that. Status quo must be restored on RNJ's parentage. Otherwise the very premise of the show falls flat. Monarchy is about birth. Merit or popularity bring it into the realm of democracy. This show is about a King. Let it remain that way!
This can easily be done by showing that Dilruba changed the infants to protect the courtesan's baby from Sartaj. She knew Sartaj would kill the child. So she just gave him Rajmata's baby that was believed to be stillborn. When he threw it in the air, the obstruction in the child's lungs cleared up and the baby began to breathe. Obviously Dilruba couldn't tell the truth after that because Sartaj's original baby would have been exposed and also her act of changing the babies. So RNJ is indeed RM and Bade Rana's son!
2. Raageshwari's exit needs to be hastened. Her track is not working!
3. BRM needs to be temporarily placed on the back burner with Raageshwari's exit. At least, she needs to get out of the palace and do her sabotage from outside. Her sitting in the palace and using another woman to create problems between the leads in a repeat of the previous track!
4. The focus has to shift back to the leads. A rebooting of the love story has to happen. Sometimes tried and tested cliches can be resorted to if it will help the show. In this case, they need to find a way for the love story to start all over again. Misunderstandings and separation will not help. Because then, it becomes reconciliation. What is needed is a fresh start and not a reconciliation! Be it memory loss or a new identity, find a way to start it all over again!
5. Revive Swarna's parallel track. This has the potential of setting Gayathri in direct conflict with Rajmata, when she knows the truth about the abuse heaped on Swarna. Rajmata would not want the truth going out. There can be a court case, or a murder attempt or something interesting with the leads also playing a significant part!
6. There is so much of mystery and drama that is possible within the existing set up without compromising on logic the way they have. The makers must look for ways to do that. This is a period story and the British were still part of the political landscape. That is not being used at all except very sparingly. Palaces are full of intrigue, conspiracies, secrets and there are ghosts lurking around every corner! Create huge drama in the form of a murder, maybe frame the King or the Queen, take them to a British Court and have them sentenced and then, the other can fight to prove his/her innocence. If you can, make use of the freedom movement. The Raja can be approached by political parties to contest elections even!
7. One lead must not be made to look an idiot in order to prop up the other. A good balance must be maintained between them.
8. There were so many regressive customs back then. Pick up anything like widow remarriage, sati or any such strong theme and run it as a subplot with the King and Queen wanting reform but the conservative society leaders opposing them.
9. The leads do not have to be at loggerheads all the time. Please up the romance quotient significantly. Also, they can work in tandem to solve problems. Please weave in lighter moments. Too much of drama is also a put off!
These are just a few of my thoughts. I would request you to chip in too. Let us please keep the conversation polite and constructive so it can be of use to the makers if they care to look at it!
While a part of me exults because the makers deserve this for the nonsensical tracks that they have been churning out, another part feels sad for the actors. They've been putting in their 200% every time but the script has simply not backed them!
I think it is now high time the channel and the makers decided to take a good hard look at what has gone wrong and opt for course correction on a war footing. I don't know if there is still the possibility of things looking up but, like they say, it's not over till it's over!
The whole of last week was about Sartaj, BRM and Raageshwari. Seriously, who cares about any of these characters? The first and the last have just dropped down onto the show from nowhere and destroyed the very essence of the show.
This show was about the love story between a King and a commoner. It was about the threat being faced by the incumbent King from his relatives who want the throne!
Suddenly, we are told the King is not a King but the son of a dacoit! In one stroke, the essence of the show stands destroyed. It ceases to be a love story of the King and the commoner. And, even worse, the King suddenly is the usurper while his greedy relatives have a legitimate right to the throne.
Monarchy is not about merit but about lineage. So, RNJ has no right to the throne is the presence of legitimate contenders who qualify by birth!
With the very premise destroyed, the audience is suddenly feeling betrayed. This is not the story that was sold to them. So, when the product is not what they bought into, they have every right to reject it!
I am a TRP viewer and I have not watched the show on TV for the last two weeks because the excessive negativity puts me off! This show is not your typical TRP show. It has a special audience who subscribed to it simply because it offered something different from the usual saas-bahu drama. If this show is going to be turned into the typical saas-bahu drama with a sauten thrown in, where is the incentive for the loyal audience to continue watching? A part of the loyal audience left with the entry of fake Sula and a good many of the remaining left with the entry of Avdesh. It is not that the audience has a problem with antagonists. All of us understand that antagonists and twists are a necessary evil and a part of desitv soaps. However, when the foundation is yet to be strengthened, how do you go on building blocks on top? When the love story had not even taken proper shape, antagonists were brought in to destroy it. If I am not even allowed to appreciate something, why would I mourn its demise?
Secondly, Avdesh was a completely irrelevant character suddenly dropped down onto the show from nowhere to create a twist that made no sense. And the actor did not do the show a favor with his over the top histrionics!
Now, Raageshwari has taken over the mantle and the horror show continues. Tell me, who wants to see a corpse drama for five days at a stretch, and just before going to bed? A show that was once classy has been reduced to a B-grade drama.
Also it has become very repetitive. This Raageshwari track is almost the same as the fake Sula track. Why would an audience want to see the same thing again and again and at such short intervals?
TRP audiences like conflict between the hero and the heroine. They like strong heroines and they approve of them going against the hero when they are supporting the right or at least believe that they are! In this track, what is Gayathri supporting? She is supporting the continuation of a lie. Whom does that lie benefit, especially when it is revealed the lie is already known to the very antagonists whom it will favour? And by not revealing the truth, what is she achieving? She is compromising on her marriage and indirectly helping the antagonist.
So, even if the leads are in conflict, they are both losing and the antagonist is winning. Why would the TRP audience like this kind of a fight? Where they know that, even if the truth is revealed, it will still mean the King losing the battle against his relatives or maybe he won't even fight? So, it all seems pointless completely and a wasteful exercise!
If the FL went against her husband and fought for justice, the TRPs might still come. Here she is going against her husband and fighting to help injustice win. TRP audiences love strong heroines but not those whose fight is to destroy their own lives!
Course correction has to happen on priority. I think the following might help towards this end.
1. Flush Sartaj out and there are many ways to do that. Status quo must be restored on RNJ's parentage. Otherwise the very premise of the show falls flat. Monarchy is about birth. Merit or popularity bring it into the realm of democracy. This show is about a King. Let it remain that way!
This can easily be done by showing that Dilruba changed the infants to protect the courtesan's baby from Sartaj. She knew Sartaj would kill the child. So she just gave him Rajmata's baby that was believed to be stillborn. When he threw it in the air, the obstruction in the child's lungs cleared up and the baby began to breathe. Obviously Dilruba couldn't tell the truth after that because Sartaj's original baby would have been exposed and also her act of changing the babies. So RNJ is indeed RM and Bade Rana's son!
2. Raageshwari's exit needs to be hastened. Her track is not working!
3. BRM needs to be temporarily placed on the back burner with Raageshwari's exit. At least, she needs to get out of the palace and do her sabotage from outside. Her sitting in the palace and using another woman to create problems between the leads in a repeat of the previous track!
4. The focus has to shift back to the leads. A rebooting of the love story has to happen. Sometimes tried and tested cliches can be resorted to if it will help the show. In this case, they need to find a way for the love story to start all over again. Misunderstandings and separation will not help. Because then, it becomes reconciliation. What is needed is a fresh start and not a reconciliation! Be it memory loss or a new identity, find a way to start it all over again!
5. Revive Swarna's parallel track. This has the potential of setting Gayathri in direct conflict with Rajmata, when she knows the truth about the abuse heaped on Swarna. Rajmata would not want the truth going out. There can be a court case, or a murder attempt or something interesting with the leads also playing a significant part!
6. There is so much of mystery and drama that is possible within the existing set up without compromising on logic the way they have. The makers must look for ways to do that. This is a period story and the British were still part of the political landscape. That is not being used at all except very sparingly. Palaces are full of intrigue, conspiracies, secrets and there are ghosts lurking around every corner! Create huge drama in the form of a murder, maybe frame the King or the Queen, take them to a British Court and have them sentenced and then, the other can fight to prove his/her innocence. If you can, make use of the freedom movement. The Raja can be approached by political parties to contest elections even!
7. One lead must not be made to look an idiot in order to prop up the other. A good balance must be maintained between them.
8. There were so many regressive customs back then. Pick up anything like widow remarriage, sati or any such strong theme and run it as a subplot with the King and Queen wanting reform but the conservative society leaders opposing them.
9. The leads do not have to be at loggerheads all the time. Please up the romance quotient significantly. Also, they can work in tandem to solve problems. Please weave in lighter moments. Too much of drama is also a put off!
These are just a few of my thoughts. I would request you to chip in too. Let us please keep the conversation polite and constructive so it can be of use to the makers if they care to look at it!
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